Hiya,

I had a read through the old posts, most of it was Pre-Oblivion anyway.

I can retexture leaves for trees, but then that replaces all the trees that use that leaf texture.

The Nif files for trees dont have references to which texture to use. Therefore the texture information is contained within the speedtree file.

Now, short of buying a full fledged version of Speedtree. Has anyone discovered a way to retexture your own Trees bark and leaves?

Without creating just a new static mesh and texture.

I would still like the trees to sway and have shadows. But I want to retexture them and create my own tree.

Anyone have any solutions so far?

If not.

Are there any good 3D Modelers interested in lending a hand to create a few trees.

All I need at this stage is a retextured Darker Camoran Paradies tree for the Dark Forest. There wont be that many of them around, so shouldnt hinder FPS too much.

Thanks in advance

Addiktive

The bark texture is saved directly into the SPT files. You can quite easily edit it with a hex editor. Oblivion pretty much ignores the whole path to the bark texture and replaces the file extension with ".dds", anyway. For example, "treecamoranparadise01.spt" has "C:\Hope\IDV\CamoranParadise\Final\\TreeCamoranParadiseBark.tga" as the bark texture file name, while the actual texture is in "...\Data\textures\trees\branches\treecamoranparadisebark.dds" and "..._n.dds".

aahhhh...I did open up the .spt file and take a look, and saw the.tga file...thats wat confused me....so therefore I can edit the .spt and rename the texture with my own.

Thanks for the heads up.

Addikt

I had a play with the file. But I obviously dont quite undersatnd.

I edited the .spt file to point to e.g. XUFDFCameronParadise.tga instead, and I also have retextured the XUFDFCameronParadiseBark.dds

But in the CS the tree disappears.

Do I need to edit the .spt to point to my own prefixed imaginary .tga? and just retexture the .dds?

If there is no such file as XUFDFCameronParadise.tga how does it know to point to XUFDFCameronParadiseBark.dds?

thanks

addikt

That's ... strange. In my (simple) test, it worked, but then I didn't change the name length of the file, just pasted a different one therein and added corresponding DDS files to the "...\Data\textures\trees\branches\" directory. I'll have to check further tomorrow.

Ahh. that would probably work. Ill test that out. But I still want my own textures and dont want to replace any vanilla ones.

Is there actually a .tga file anywhere? So to repoint to the new texture? I need my own prefixed .spt file, so I dont replace any vanilla trees. And also my own prefixed textures to avoid the same problem...right?

I appreciate your help Khadirgro

Addikt


Also, in regard to Billboards. I assume I need to retexture those to suit also?

aAarrghhh

I have completely removed all my editied .spt and .dds files

But the vanilla trees have been permanently altered somehow.

Heres a pic of what has happened in the Default Master Oblviion.esm file?!?!?

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h108/add.../swamptrees.jpg

Uh oh.

Somewhere the default paths have been altered for this tree?!?!? But I have no idea where.

All I did was use a HEx editor to change the texture path of the SwampTree.spt.

And created new textures.

Ive tried deleting all my edited files. But it has caused a permanent change somewhere?

Help

help...sigh...ive resorted to reinstalling oblivion...


Update: Reisntalling the game has fixed the disappearing trees. But I still have the issue of retexturing the bark properly.

addikt

Are you keeping the texture paths the same length when you hex-edit them? I'm pretty sure that's important.

Ok Ive discovered that the BSA patcher had been screwing with it. I updated the pacther. And now everything is back to normal.

Im going to try redoing the trees again. And this time I know to watch out for the patcher.

Texture paths the same length? All I did was add my prefix infront of the tree name....





Im getting an error when changing the .spt file the tree points to.

'Assertion Error - At C:\Projects\tes4\TES Shared\Speedtree\BSTreeModel.cpp, 709

I assume I cant actually add my prefix to the .spt file

Only to the actuall tree and then the texture?


It appears there is a speedtree file somewhere that has the list of available trees. And you cant simply add a new one by renaming a current one.


Therefore.

If I edit the .spt file in my new tree to point to a new texture, it will change all the trees that use that .spt file.

I got some error, said sure to that.
Tree with new texture.

Back after dinner.

Here's my edited files. The .nif seems to be only the collision for the tree? The leaf texture looks like it can be changed from in the CS.

Thanks mmmp1d.

How did you do the tree texture? What error did you get?

I can change the Leaf texture no problem.

I couldnt get that second link to work either?

Edit: fixed that link, downloading now......


Ok, so it appears you can rename the .spt file no problem?

It seems that the BSA patcher was messing up my process.

Ill give it another shot.

Thanks for the hard work

Addikt

I really dont understand this.

Using your files it works fine. As soon as I try to replicate it with my own files, it doesnt work. Is it because of the editor im using? Or the length of the filename?!?!

The trees just disappear...


Addikt


edit: double checking what format ive saved the .dds file as...

DDS files are fine.

What I did:

1. Copied the "treecamoransparadise01.spt" to "mytree.spt"

2. Copied the textures "dungeons\fortruins\exterior\rfwall01.dds" and "...\rfwall01_n.dds" into the "trees\branches\" texture directory.

3. Opened up the mytree.spt file and replaced the file name in there with "frwall01.tga", filling the reminder with \0 characters ("00" in hex).

4. Added mytree.spt together with "treecamoransparadiseleaves01.dds" leaf texture to the TESCS. Also, added four random SpeedTree seeds (11983, 23211, 34239 and 65231 - but it doesn't really matter, just play with the numbers and check what works as a tree).

5. Got an "Assert" error @ C:\Projects\tes4\TES Shared\SpeedTree\BSTreeModel.cpp, line 709. The tree rendered properly (that is, with a "stony" bark), though.

6. Closed the TESCS, copied the "treecamoransparadise01.dds" billboard from the "trees\billboards\" texture directory to a file named "mytree.dds", restarted the TESCS and tried adding the tree again.

7. This time, it worked perfectly, without an assert error. Seems like it was just missing the billboard texture.

There. No problems at all. Just make sure the SPT files before and after editing are exactly the same size.

Opened up the mytree.spt file and replaced the file name in there with "frwall01.tga", filling the reminder with \0 characters ("00" in hex).


I dont get that. What did you use to open the .spt file? what hex editor? Notepad? HHD?

Do I just need to make sure the new filename is the same number of characters?

And the billboard .dds has to have the same name as the texture?

What about the .nif file?

Well I copied your guide word for word. But theres something not working?

Is there a specific hex editor program I need to edit the .spt file?

I used xvi32. Any other hex editor should work, though. You can download the resulting SPT file here. As you see, it's exactly 6685 bytes, the same as "treecamoransparadise01.spt", which was its base.



The same or less. You just fill up the reminder of the former file name with "00" hex values.

Here is a screenshot of what I changed, exactly.



The billboard has to have the same name as the SPT file, replacing the "spt" extension with "dds", obviously.

There's no NIF file involved.

Ok:

The original .tga file it pointed to was treecpswampcypressbark.dds

I simply, renamed it to:

ufdfcpswampcypressbark.dds

So it has the same number of characters.

Thanks for the Hex editor link. Its better to use then the HHD one I tried.

The BSA Pacther is really screwing with this.

I followed your insturctions to the 'T'

But found I had to exit the CS, update the BSA pacther and reload th CS

And it finally shows up how it is supposed to.

Thanks so much for your help and detailed explanations KhadirgroGhurkag & mmmp1d

Appreciated. Now I can get back to modding Unique Forests.....wow...that was driving me nuts lol


Addikt

Glad to be of help. No idea what this "BSA Patcher" tool you're talking about is, but I'm sure I'll wait for a slightly less buggy version of it before I try it out.

EDIT: I'm looking forward to what the community will do with this information. Stone trees, steel trees, trees glowing in the dark, bleeding trees ... come on, suprise me!

Its a function of OBMM or available as a standalone program by timeslip. It renders the 'buggy' ai.txt file useless. And offers a better solution for ensuring the ingame textures work.

But it appears that the bsa patcher is my own worst enemy when retexturing. lol

Thanks again

Addikt


p.s. Its imperitive to disable the bsa patcher and restart the CS for the chanegs to take affect.


Well I can guarantee that Unique Forests will take utmost advantage of this method.!!!!



hmmmm....glowing treess.........BLEEDING...yes....thats cool

What KhadirgroGhurkag said. Sorry about the stuffed up link.
What does the billboard thing do? (other than get rid of the error)

It's used as a texture for the "far distance" tree models, which mostly constist of just a single plane, oriented in the direction of the player.

Usually they're auto-generated by the SpeedTreeCAD program, but you can also draw your own if you want, I guess.

Cheers

I simply recoloured the billboard to suit the new tree color. Seems to be working now. Still a bit fiddly sometimes running it with the BSA Patcher. Downloaded the latest OBMM and seems to be running smoother. Thanks guys!

BTW guys. The .nif file is required to make sure the collision for the tree is present. I had to rename the .nif to match. Now the retextured tree cant be walked through. lol


Addikt

O rly?

Ah, good to know. Anyone up to wikifying that stuff?

(I could do it later today, I guess ...)

EDIT: Now that I checked it, a lot of the trees don't have any collision NIFs associated to them, and can't be walked through either. It almost seems like the whole treecamoranparadise*.spt stuff is an exception, or that you only need a separate collision NIF if your tree doesn't have a simple tube-like lower part.

Yeah I noticed there wasn't anywhere near enough nifs for all the trees. Is there anything in the 'treecamoranparadise*.spt' lot that links to the .nif or is it automatically searched out? What happens if a collision nif is renamed to match a normal tree?

Theres only about 5 or so nifs.

I did notice you had already mentioned the collision mmp1d.....just hadnt clicked that early on lol

Not sure about renaming a nif o match a normal tree, would have to have a play.

Im glad someone else is interested in the possiblities of this lol


Im surprised theres no 'DefaultTree.nif' file that uses the same collision for most the trees. I wonder where the other trees get the collision info from?

Hello,
I see that this thread had no been discussed for a while and the incoming of some french dude like me is probably a bigger sign of its desolation...

Well, I was also surprised by the presence of only a few NIFs, but I guess differents trees must use the sames aproximatives collsion-meshes in the nifs.

But before going on, a little introducing-me, please : Well, first, thanks a lot to all the crafty ones and the lucky ones who worked before on trees in Oblivion, and managed to prepare a little way in the forest for others... Well it is definitively harder than working on NIFs ! Since a few monthes, I am attempting to make some kind of "great" ESM "all-in-one" ( including lots of re-working on the bests mod I had the luck to handle. )

Ones of these mods are of Course those of "Unique Landscape"...
To maximise compatibility with game, and by personal choice, I have chosen to shift "Dark Forest" in its own WorldSpace, with some heavy killer-fogs to prevent Player to leave the worldSpace.
I had also re-made the meshes and textures of the new kind of Spriggan ( it is a little far away from the original, you can see it in action here if you are interested in : http://0zForum.oblivion-z.fr/packs/imgForu...ueFogSuccub.avi
http://0zforum.oblivion-z.fr/packs/imgForu...ueFogSuccub.jpg
Of course, when it will finished, I will contact Addiktive to ask him if he is intereted to take anything of my own work to update his own work !

Well, let's speak about trees now ! Dark Forest was the first mod attempting to change them I have ever seen and thanks to this thread I overcame to make my own bark-textured trees ( I was also becoming crazy ! ) In the same time I was working on remakes of Unique Landscape, I started with some others people a big island with swamps, and that was for this Island I wanted to make my own desolated trees... Thanks to you, Addiktive, Mmmpld and KhadirgroGhurkag, I was able to obtain new textured barks, and before that, I had ever made new branchs-visuals and new foliages-textures... But I am still encountering some problems and would have wanted to know your opinion about that...

EDIT : Huh... Well, My bark got a texture in TESCS but not in Game... I guess I am not at the end-point !

I wanted less foliages on my swamps-tree than on usuals game-trees. Not some kind of dead tree ( I could have done it with very little transparents textures or ask for you how you managed to do so with your own .SPT : Would you have answered ? )
No, in fact, I just wanted to reduce the number of leafs billboards in the tree, not erase all of them.

I tried a lot of things with SpeedTreeCad.exe 3.01 but the result is still the same :
My .SPT seems to not be fully compatible ; I obtain less leafs in SpeedTree, but in TESCS, my leafs are all there and are all at the roots of the tree instead of looking like in SpeedTree !
I also tried to increase branches number to have some more "creeping-effect" but, same result !

Then, I was wondering if it could be just possible that the versionning was the problem : Should I use an older release of SpeedTree ? Or is it definitely an other SpeedTree engine in Oblivion, and can't we just be as free as we could have wanted it ?

If some more things have been discovered by you all, would you mind to take a little of your time to explain what you managed to find about all that, please ? It would be really nice to you, thanks !
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To see a little more what are my/our goals, my "own" forum is here ( but in french ) :
http://0zforum.oblivion-z.fr/_DEV